Metzner Family Enjoys First Reunion in Many Years

Portland, Indiana Commercial Review, July 20, 1909, page 1

EIGHTY-SIX AT DINNER

Double Birthday at Westchester Attended by Crowd

Auto Bears Unusual Burden

Metzner Family Enjoys First Reunion in Many Years

Eighty-six person enjoyed the dinner spread on the wide porch and lawns of the Axe home at Westchester Sunday, for a reunion of members of the family.  The occasion celebrated the birthdays of Mrs. Catherine Metzner, 90 and Mrs. Amanda Axe, 28.  Mrs. Metzner has been in the country since 1835, when she came from Germany.

The day was enlivened by games and exchanges of reminiscences of childhood days.  In the afternoon, a memorable hour, for Grandma Metzner at least, was a short trip in George Maxwell's auto.  With him also rode the youngest attendant, the 14 months old baby of Irvin Metzner.

Those present were: Wesley Metzner and family, William Metzner and family, Mrs. George Stolz, Mrs. Mary Huey of Rome City, Mrs. Harry Green and family, Mrs. Lydia Smith and family, Irvin Metzner and family, Mrs. Amanda Axe, Mrs. Nora Bergman, Mrs. Gilbert Pierpont of Indianapolis, Jacob Haley and family, Geo. S. Haley and family, William Haley and family, Levi Patterson, Fred Martin, Jacob Haley, E.T. Haffner, Mrs. Philip Stolz, Wesley Metzner, Eli Via, William Axe of Michigan, all Haley, George Maxwell, Mrs. Nora accompanied by their families. [typesetting error : should read from Wesley Metzner, Eli Haley, George Maxwell, Mrs. Nora Via, William Axe of Michigan, all accompanied by their families]

There were present, four children, six granchildren and 15 great grandchildren, besides other relatives.

---
Always wonderful to have these family reunions published in the papers, particularly the mention of the all of the names of the relatives.  The trick is seeing if I can identify each of these named individuals and how they are related to Grandma Catherine Metzner

Wesley Metzner and family - This is Wesley T. Metzner (1855-    ), her son.

William Metzner and family - This is William F. Metzner (1844-1929), her son.

Mrs. George Stolz - This is Catherine E. (Metzner) Stolz (1853-1943), her daughter.

Mrs. Mary Huey - This is Mary A. (Metzner) Huey (1862-1925), her daughter.

Mrs. Harry Green and family - This is Loetta J. (Metzner) Green, her granddaughter.  Loetta was the daughter of William F. and Mary A. (Haley) Metzner. 

Mrs. Lydia Smith and family - This is Lydia Ann (Metzner) Smith, her granddaughter.  Lydia was the daughter of William F. and Mary A. (Haley) Metzner.

Irvin Metzner and family - This is Irvin G. Metzner (1879-    ), her grandson.  Irvin was the son of William F. and Mary A. (Haley) Metzner.

Mrs. Amanda Axe - This is Amanda A. (Metzner) Axe, her granddaughter.  Amanda was the daughter of William F. and Mary A. (Haley) Metzner.

Mrs. Nora Bergman - This is Nora May (Stolz) Bergman, her granddaughter.  Nora was the daughter of George W. and Catherine E. (Metzner) Stolz.

Mrs. Gilbert Pierpont - This is Lena (Orcutt) Pierpont, her granddaughter.  Lena was the daughter of James and Samantha E. (Metzner) Orcutt.

I was able to identify the four children and the six grandchildren from the list of names.  The others mentioned include members of the intermarried Haley and Metzner families.

Aaron Bales (1790-1847), Henry County, Indiana

Working on filling in some gaps in my database by utilizing the "Indiana Marriages, 1811-1959" database at Familysearch.org to see what updates and corrections I could find.

Aaron Bales (1790-1847) was the son of William and Rachel (Green) Beals.  His marriage on December 18, 1834 in Henry County, Indiana was found in the database.  Prior to this find, I only knew the year and location of their marriage.  It was the second marriage for Aaron.

"Indiana, Marriages, 1811-1959," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XXFR-125 : accessed 13 Aug 2013), Aaron Bales and Susannah Russel, 1834.

Aaron was my maternal second cousin seven times removed.  Our common ancestors were John Beals and Sarah Bowater.  Aaron and Susannah had six children in Henry and Wayne Counties, Indiana.

Catching Old Shoes : The Dark Side of Cousin Bait

Last year, when I started publishing the cousin bait posts, my hope was that relatives might find the posts through search engines, visit the blog, and make comments on the posts that would lead to further dialogue and sharing of information on mutual relatives.  

For the most part, this has happened, and I continue to be blessed by those willing to share.  However, there is a dark side to cousin bait.  Several months ago, I was contacted by someone who didn't like what they saw on my blog and weren't afraid to let me know that I was wrong.  Instead of a great catch, I seem to have caught an old shoe.

I'd like to think I make it clear that the blog is a work-in-progress and I admit up front that my genealogy will contain some errors.  I'm always willing to take correction, but I found the tone of this particular commentator to be a bit over the top:

Dear Sir;

I came across your blog site a few days ago.  I clicked in the surname of Finel.  I came to the following web page: http://tjlgenes.blogspot.ca/2012/07/surname-saturday-finel.html  I found that the person named Ahnentafel had posted several blogs.  Most of the stuff he has right.  However, his posting # 369 is totally wrong.  Edward Finel never married Sarah Green The birth place,  birth date, death place or date let alone a marriage date have never been found.  If Edward married Sarah Green then why did she keep her maiden surname when she married Peter Gibbons?  Yes there are records of Sarah with a young child.  That child shows up as one of the children with the children conceived through the marriage of Peter Green. There are a total of thirteen children in this marriage with Edward Finel included in the whole family.  Peter took the child in but never adopted the child..  My best guess on the marriage of these two people is around 1750.  Their first child, Elizabeth Gibbons) was born 07 Nov. 1752 in Granville, MA.

There may have been records at one time about the original Edward Finel but they have either been lost, misplaced, destroyed by fire or flood  I would welcome any records to prove me wrong or right. Show me the records or sites for them.

To my knowledge, there are only three remaining direct descendents to the original Edward Finel. My cousin is the last remaining living Finel.  When he passes so does that line.  My son and I are from the original line, however, my surname was changed for some reason in the early 1800’s to Fennell.  To date it look like my son will be the last to carry on the line of Finel/Fennell.

There has been write up that the original Edward Finel came from England.  Again, there aren’t any records to back up this statement.  I have thought that he may have come from Ireland. My thinking is he stayed with his own religious and ethnic group as did so many of the early settlers in that period of time.  Again, no records to back up that statement either.

What little I have written in this letter can be easily backed up by the records that are through many reliable sources.

I tried to post a blog to some of the things on that blog site but they never showed up.  I did get an acknowledgement that a moderator would have to go over them. Maybe I am not doing a blog right.  I normally don’t post things on any social media sites.  I just don’t think I want my name connected to a bunch of things that are not consistent.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

At first glance, the gentleman is trying to point out some erroneous information in one of my blog posts, fair enough.  Then, he seems to confuse my blog with some other postings on the internet.  He mentioned facts that I hadn't even posted on this blog. I responded to his email asking for more information, hoping to clarify things. When I wrote him for more information, I received a response that seemed to be more of a tease (as in - not going to share information) and a bit of an accusation that I was somehow a 'name gatherer' who wasn't doing any research.  The email and my response (in parenthesis) is below :

Hi,

Thank you for replying to my letter to you. There will be one web site pasted on this letter that will show at least two postings of Sarah Green being married to Peter Gibbons. It shows that they have twelve children.  I have not found a direct site yet where the complete family has thirteen children, the thirteenth child being Edward Finel.  I will find that info and forward it to you.

[OK, I’ve seen the actual records from the town showing where Sarah Green married Peter Gibbons.  Not just the website link you sent below.  Look forward to seeing the information you can provide.]

You asked me which Edward my cousin and myself are related to. Obviously we are both related to the first Edward. It couldn’t be any other way.

[I only asked to clarify, since we were talking about two separate Edwards.]

My cousin, who wishes to remain on the sidelines, has done more research and longer than I have.  We have been working together for about ten years.  His records are very detailed and have copies of documents to back up his research.

[That’s wonderful, and the whole point of doing research is to share.]

I personally found a relative in our line that to our knowledge nobody else has found.  The info is there for people to find out like I did. To date, we have not published or released any of this info to anybody on line.  Nobody has asked us about this person.  He was easy to find. Neither one of us have ever published our findings on line .  The research we do is a hobby and something for our children to have.  They might want to know where they came from someday.

[That is why most of us do this type of research.]

There are two “gatherers” out there that just harvest names for the sake of doing that.  They do not research anything. I think both my cousin and I were taken in be these two guys when we first started doing this research.  I know I was taken in by one of them.  Their last names are Keener and Koeble. Both of them have in excess of 20,000 names in their history.

[I’m sorry that you feel you were taken in by someone.  Are you accusing me of being a gatherer?  That is not the case.  I am posting what I have ‘warts and all’ hoping that others will correct and add to it.  It’s called sharing.  No one owns a family genealogy or the facts.]

My cousin is very aware of my first letter to you as well as this one.  We will both make comments under the comments that you left on the original letter I sent you.

[Look forward to receiving it.]

You stated that you never mentioned a marriage date of Sarah to Edward, but you did infer that the two of them were married.

[And you have corrected me, sir, by stating it was an error. ]

There are records out there where Sarah was “warned out” in two cities in MA. With those “Warned out’ records it states that she is with a child. These records are easy to find.

[Again, why are you being so vague?  Which towns?  I published what I thought was the correct lineage in order to solicit additions and corrections, not to be brow-beat.]

27 Oct. 1748	Edward-2 birth	?	Son born as reported by other researchers haven’t verified yet as to date and location, they report born in Granville, Mass. which I doubt very much.
Nov 1748	a Warning **	Shrewsbury, (Worchester), Mass.	A Sarah Green, a warning out issued.      [book finding]
9 May 1749	a Warning **	Southborough, (Worchester), Mass.	A Sarah Green and child, a warning out issued. [book finding]

7 Nov. 1751	marriage	Hardwick, (Worcester), Mass.	marriage to PETER GIBBONS         [LDS film #0873754]
7 Nov. 1752	daughter birth	Hardwick, Mass.	Elizabeth Gibbons born      [LDS film]
1753	father moves	Hardwick, (Worcester), Mass.	Sarah father & mother move to Hardwick   [book in LDS library]

The two ** are meant to remind me that this info came from a microfilm (unfortunately I forgot to write this number down before I sent the films back) I got from the LDS Churches family history center.  

To date we are waiting for some letters to arrive from the European Continent that my have some bearing of where the first Edward came from.

[Well, if the 1^st Edward isn’t related to the 2^nd Edward (b. 1748), do you know his ancestry?]

Here is the web site page that will show the marriage of Sarah and Peter. If you click on her name, it will open up and there is a spot that says “show children”.  Click on that and it will show the twelve children from that marriage.  Again it will not show Edward Finel.

[Since your first email, I have found much of this information showing Peter and Sarah’s family.  Yes, there are many online who have ‘connected’ Sarah Green and Edward Finel without proof.  Obviously, somewhere along the line I received the same information.  I posted it to the web, seeking corrections, which you have provided.  ]

No where have we ever found proof that Edward is her son. We would love to see that document.            

[As would I.]

https://www.familysearch.org/search/trees#count=20&query=%2Bgivenname%3Asarah~%20%2Bsurname%3Agreen~%20%2Bany_place%3Ama.~%20%2Bany_year%3A1750-1850~&collection_id=(2%203)&offset=40.

 Like I mentioned in the beginning of this letter, you will get some more detail.

Notice how the email ends?  I will get some detail, but nothing is clear as to what that information would contain, other than vague mentions of a 'cousin' who has done all the research.  This email was 6 months ago and no other information has been forthcoming from this gentleman.

Am I being hyper-sensitive?  Or is this guy an extreme personality who feels somehow offended that an error was made in a family tree posting about one of his great-greats?  If that is the case, he must be a real piece of work.

Obviously, I have more research to do on this line and seek out the town records, at least this gentleman gave me a few clues with the boot.

Marriage License & Return: Harry S. Green to Loetta J. Metzner, 1900

Source: Jay County, Indiana, Original Marriage License, "Harry S. Green to Loetta J. Metzner, 1900"; County Marriage Returns Collection; Jay County Historical Society, Portland, Indiana.

Marriage License

State of Indiana, Jay County, SS:

To All Who Shall See These Presents, Greeting:

Know Ye, That any person empowered by law to solemnize Marriages is hereby authorized to join together as Husband and Wife

Harry S. Green and Loetta J. Metzner

and for so doing, this shall be his sufficient authority.

In Testimony Whereof, I, Ed V. Fitzpatrick Clerk

of the Jay Circuit Court, hereunto subscribe my name and affix the seal of said Court at Portland, Indiana, this 18th day of May 1900.

Ed V. Fitzpatrick, Clerk

STATE OF INDIANA, JAY COUNTY, SS:

This Certifies, That I joined in Marriage, as Husband and Wife, 

Harry S. Green and Loetta J. Metzner on the 19th day of May 1900.

Rev J.W. Metzner

Source: Jay County, Indiana, Original Marriage Return, "Harry S. Green to Loetta J. Metzner, 1900"; County Marriage Returns Collection; Jay County Historical Society, Portland, Indiana.

INDIANA STATE BOARD OF HEALTH

RETURN OF A MARRIAGE TO COUNTY CLERK

1. Full Name of Groom Harry S. Green

2. Place of Residence Jay Co. Ind.

3. Occupation Farmer

4. Age next Birthday 30 Color White Race Caucasian

5. Place of Birth Jay Co. Ind. Nationality American

6. Father's Name William Green

7. Mother's Maiden Name [illegible]

8. Number of Groom's Marriage First

9. Full Name of Bride Loetta J. Metzner

10. Place of Residence Jay co., Ind.  Occupation House keeper

11. Age next Birthday 30 years.  Color White Race Caucasian

12. Place of Birth Jay Co. Ind. Nationality American

13. Father's Name William F. Metzner

14. Mother's Maiden Name Mary A. Haley

15. Number of Bride's Marriage 1

16. Married at Bride's Parents home in the County of Jay and State of Indiana, the 19th day of May 1900.

17. Witnesses to Marriage Mr. & Mrs. W. Green and Mr. & Mrs. W. Metzner

Marriage solemnized by 

Rev. J.W. Metzner

Defiance O.

Dated at Briant, Ind. this 19 day of May 1900.

This record of the marriage of Harry S. Green and Loetta J. Metzner was located at the Jay County Historical Society in Portland, Indiana.

Loetta was the daughter of William F. Metzner (1844-1929) and Mary Ann (Haley) Metzner (1846-1926), making Loetta my first cousin three times removed.

Prior to locating this record, I only had her name as a child of William and Mary, and now have a new avenue to research.

The minister that married them was Loetta's older brother, John W. Metzner, and Evangelical Association minister.

Interesting that the spelling of the name of the town in Jay County was used as 'Briant', rather than Bryant as it is today.

On This Day : July 22

1611 - Anne STRUTT died in Rattlesden, Suffolk, England.  Anne was the daughter of John WALLER and Jane ________.  Anne was my 12x-great grandmother.


1801 - Jane ANTONIDES born.  Jane was the daughter of Cornelius ANTONIDES and Marie VAN SICKLEN.


1801 - Mary KEENEY born.  Mary was the daughter of John S. KEENEY and Magdalena PETRY.


1867 - Etta J. DAVIS born.  Etta was the daughter of Cornelius S. DAVIS and Elizabeth Johnson SUTTON.


1872 - Joseph SILLS died in Wells County, Indiana.  Joseph was the son of Joseph SILLS.


1875 - Elva May HENDRIXSON born in Brown County, Ohio.  Elva was the daughter of Ira F. HENDRIXSON and Mary Ann BERRY.


1878 - Prudence THOMAS died.  Prudence was the daughter of Silas WILLIAMS and Mary HUNT.


1908 - Samuel S. LAMBERTSON married Nellie H. LEARY in Marion County, Indiana.  Samuel was the son of Carey W. LAMBERTSON and Clara E. COOK.


1908 - Herman Roach GREEN born.  Herman was the son of William Sherman GREEN and Vina Almeda BOYER.

Surname Saturday : Finel

The FINEL surname is in my paternal line.  The origins of the surname are unknown at this point.


Stories and history:


Ahnentafel # 91 : Lydia Finel (1796-1869).  Lydia was born February 21, 1796 in Rutland County, Vermont.  She married circa 1815 in Rutland County, Vermont to Selah Moulton (1790-1848).  Selah was born October 28, 1790 in Rutland County, Vermont.  They raised 9 children in Rutland County, Vermont and Licking County, Ohio.  He died February 1848 in St. Albans, Licking County, Ohio.  Lydia died December 3, 1869 in Licking County, Ohio.  They are both buried in the Maple Grove Cemetery, Licking County, Ohio.


Ahnentafel # 182: Edward Finel (1748-1821).  Edward was born October 27, 1748 in Granville, Massachusetts.  He married in Saratoga, New York to Anna Morgan (1760-1833).  Anna was born October 22, 1760 in Sargent, New York. They raised 10 children in Rutland County, Vermont.  She died December 3, 1833 in Poultney, Rutland County, Vermont.  Edward died June 19, 1821 in East Poultney, Rutland County, Vermont.


Ahnentafel # 364: Edward Finel (    -bet1747/8).  Edward died between 1747 and 1748 in Granville, Massachusetts.  He married Sarah Green (1730/31-1811).  Sarah was born January 30, 1730/31 in Shrewsbury, Worcester County, Massachusetts.  She died February 8, 1811 in Granville, Massachusetts.


Related blog posts:

• Moultons of Licking County, Ohio

Surname Saturday – create a post in which you discuss a surname and mention its origins, its geographical location(s) and how it fits into your genealogy research. Surname Saturday is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

On This Day : January 30

1701: Benjamin FESSENDEN born in Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.  Benjamin was the son of Nicholas FESSENDEN and Margaret CHENEY.


1730/31: Sarah GREEN born in Shrewsbury, Worchester County, Massachusetts.  Sarah was the daughter of Thomas GREEN and Mary JOHNSON.


1766: Peter WRIGHT married Robena CROUSE.  Peter was the son of Robert WRIGHT and Elizabeth HENDERSON.


1772: Mary MILLS married Thomas COOK in Guilford County, North Carolina.  Mary was the daughter of John MILLS and Sarah BEALS.


1808: Katherine BEALS married Daniel BEALS.  Katherine was the daughter of Daniel BEALS and Susanna JACKSON.


1814: Alanson ANDERSON born.  Alanson was the son of Elijah ANDERSON and Susannah WILLIAMS.


1822: Thornton JACOBS married Maraba HOWLAND in Brown County, Ohio.  Thornton was the son of William JACOBS and Sibell LITTELL.


1825: Elizabeth Unity MAXON born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.  Elizabeth was the daughter of Jesse MAXON and Jane NANGLE.


1828: Carmon W. LAMBERTSON born in New Jersey.  Carmon was the son of John LAMBERTSON and Sarah A. WILLSON.


1840: Samuel BUCHER born in Maryland.  Samuel was the son of Nicholas BUCHER and Catherine PETRY.


1848: Mary BALES married Irvin Morris STANDARD.  Mary was the daughter of Solomon BEALS and Elizabeth JOHN.


1851: Norman Delmar PATTERSON born in Sharpsburg, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.  Norman was the son of James C. PATTERSON and Amanda Cassandra MAXON.


1858: Thomas J. KING born in Pipe Creek Township, Madison County, Indiana.  Thomas was the son of George Washington KING and Elizabeth HOWARD.


1874: Miles Clement LEWIS born.  Miles was the son of William Henry LEWIS and Malissa Adaline MORRISTON.


1886: Melvin Forrest SWAFFORD born in Ray County, Missouri.  Melvin was the son of James J. SWAFFORD and Elizabeth Ann Gant HANKINS.


1890: Mary DAVIS died in Westfield, Hamilton County, Indiana.  Mary was the daughter of Abner BARKER and Lydia OSBORNE.  She was my 5x great-grandmother.


1902: James W. SWAFFORD born in Cumberland County, Tennessee.  James was the son of James Andrew SWAFFORD and Rebecca Jane SHERRILL.


1908: Lucille McLANE born.  Lucille was the daughter of John McLANE and Lillie Mae McGUFFEY.


1909: Mamie Elnora ORCUTT married Leslie O. REED in Jay County, Indiana.  Mamie was the daughter of James ORCUTT and Samantha E. METZNER.


1916: William R. DAVIS died.  William was the son of Ehud DAVIS and Catherine DAVIS.


1923: Mardelle KING born.  Mardelle was the daughter of Hoy Hubert KING and Cleo Fern COX.


1930: Gordon Louis METZNER born in Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan.  Gordon was the son of Albert Louis METZNER and Linnea Henrietta CHRISTENSEN.


1951: Roscoe CHEW died.  Roscoe was the son of William Tatem CHEW and Lucetta VAN DEXTER.


1969: Galen Delbert LEWIS died in Wabash, Wabash County, Indiana.  Galen was the son of Lawrence Solomon LEWIS and Ruth Alice SILLS.


1996: Ralph Vernon LeMASTER died in Elkhart, Elkhart County, Indiana.  Ralph was the son of Chesley Franklin LeMASTER and Clara Louise BURKEY.

Failure to Document: Where was that source?

I received an email from a someone who found my research at WorldConnect and wanted to know about my source for the marriage of Sherman Green to Almeda Boyer. Their son Ivor Green was this researcher's ancestor.

When I began to look into my database, I noticed that this was information that was unsourced in my database. Another reminder that I need to cite each and every source as I place it in the database and not try to rely on later memory. In this particular case, I was able to locate files of correspondence with another researcher that I could email my new contact. I will be working to update this information and place it in the files.

I was also able to do a quick search of the census in Heritage Quest and locate this researcher's family. I discovered that their names were listed in the census as William Sherman Green and Vina A. Green.

I still had the original letter that I received from back in 1992 regarding the Boyer line that I can send as well. Hopefully, this information will allow the researcher to continue the search.

This Boyer line is one of Corinne's lines and the name appears to have originally been spelled as Borror. By the time the family was in Warrick and Vanderburgh Cos., Indiana they had been using the Boyer spelling.

Miss Lambertson Feted At Shower

Source: Anderson Daily Bulletin, Anderson, Indiana, Tuesday, May 15, 1956, page 5.

Miss Lambertson Feted At Shower

ALEXANDRIA - Miss Shirley Lambertson was feted recently at a bridal shower in the I. and M. Rooms by Miss Inez Allen, Miss Nancy McCaslin and Mrs. James Sigler. Contests were enjoyed and the honor guest opened her gifts from a beautifully decorated table.

Guests included Virginia Dea Kyne, Betty Crower, Wanita Hinds, Valeta Shaw, Rosemary Robbins, Virginia Green, Joan Coffin, Ethel Benefiel, Mary Zigler, Grace Shaffer, Nellie Foster, Ruth Huffman, Mary Savage, Velva Shelton, Donna Reiley, Mary Jo Reily, Charlotte Vetor, Darlene Lambertson, Mrs. Robert Patz Sr., and Mrs. Frank Lambertson.